The Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus in the country, bringing the total to 933.

Fear is increasing over the lack of testing kits and other health supplies in various provinces including Kabul and Herat, which have the highest number of COVID-19 patients.

The Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said 13 people have recovered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 112.

The minister spoke at an opening ceremony at a COVID-19 center at Darulaman Palace, saying the center has 200 beds and will admit coronavirus patients with mild symptoms, in order to isolate them.

Feroz said three coronavirus deaths happened in last 24 hours.

He added that the percentage of COVID-19 deaths in the country is 3.2%.

He said attention has been paid to Surobi district in Kabul, where reports have emerged of 30 deaths in a few days. He says a 20-bed center has been established in the province, adding that no death of the coronavirus has been reported in Surobi over the last few days.

Feroz said a probe is underway to know whether the deaths in Surobi were due to the coronavirus.

Feroz said the government has provided $15 million to the Public Health Ministry, saying the pledged $100 million by the World Bank has not been provided yet.

Feroz said the government has begun efforts to establish isolation centers with a 10,000-bed capacity for COVID-19 patients in Kabul and aims to set up 100,000 beds in the country.

The country�s laboratories have the capacity to conduct 600 tests a day, according to the Ministry of Public Health, and so far the ministry has tested over 5,800 samples.

This comes as the Kabul lockdown was extended for another three weeks until May 9 as part of attempts to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

The total number of cases of the coronavirus has reached 2,244,303 globally, according to John Hopkins University.

The United States is at the top with over 22,745 deaths and over 702,000 confirmed cases.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/16036

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